The Western is the quintessential American movie genre. Its iconography has been seared into our collective conscious: the solitary cowboy riding the endless frontier, towns struggling to survive in a lawless land, the quick-drawing gunfighter. Generations of filmmakers have engaged with those symbols, building an entire cinematic language on a genre that began with the simple premise of good “white hats” vs. bad “black hats.” In doing so, they have created mythologies, torn down legends and subverted what it means to be an American.
My exposure to the West began in the living room of my parents’ house. My father, a Sephardic Jew born and raised in Greece, shared with me the movies he loved as a child. Over the years my enthusiasm for the genre only grew as I became a history buff, a lover of myths, and eventually a filmmaker. In interviews, I’m often asked to name my favorite Western,...
My exposure to the West began in the living room of my parents’ house. My father, a Sephardic Jew born and raised in Greece, shared with me the movies he loved as a child. Over the years my enthusiasm for the genre only grew as I became a history buff, a lover of myths, and eventually a filmmaker. In interviews, I’m often asked to name my favorite Western,...
- 12/14/2017
- by Jared Moshé
- Indiewire
The King Baggot Tribute will take place Wednesday September 28th at 7pm at Lee Auditorium inside the Missouri History Museum (Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri). The 1913 silent film Ivanhoe will be accompanied by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra and there will be a 40-minute illustrated lecture on the life and career of King Baggot by We Are Movie Geeks’ Tom Stockman.
While cleaning out an old barn in New Hampshire recently, a man named Peter Massie discovered an old silent film projector and seven reels of nitrate films hidden in the shadows of a corner of the structure. Among these old reels was a 30-minute 1913 film titled When Lincoln Paid starring Francis Ford (older brother of director John Ford). It was one of six silent films, all presumed lost, in which Ford played Abraham Lincoln. It is stories like this that give hope to silent film fans.
While cleaning out an old barn in New Hampshire recently, a man named Peter Massie discovered an old silent film projector and seven reels of nitrate films hidden in the shadows of a corner of the structure. Among these old reels was a 30-minute 1913 film titled When Lincoln Paid starring Francis Ford (older brother of director John Ford). It was one of six silent films, all presumed lost, in which Ford played Abraham Lincoln. It is stories like this that give hope to silent film fans.
- 9/13/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ken Burns and Co. made a big splash with this historical docu miniseries that in 1990 gripped the imagination of the whole country. Eleven hours of history are a breeze when presented in what was then a new form: authentic photos and paintings accompanied by actorly recitals of letters and documents from the era. It all comes to life. The people enduring the War Between the States seem just like us, as if it all happened yesterday. The Civil War DVD PBS Video 1990 / Color + B&W / 1:33 flat / 11 hours, 20 min. / 25th Anniversary Edition / Street Date October 13, 2015 / 99.99 Starring Shelby Foote, Ed Bearss, Barbara Fields, James Symington, Stephen B. Oates, William Safire, Daisy Turner and the voices of Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards, Morgan Freeman, Paul Roebling, Garrison Keillor, David McCullough (narrator), Arthur Miller, Charles McDowell, Horton Foote, George Plimpton, Philip Bosco, Jody Powell, Studs Terkel, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.,...
- 12/1/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s hard to believe that a film which advocates slavery and demeans black people could have a 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and yet this is a fact. Since its release in 1915, The Birth of a Nation has been lauded both as a work of genius, and as the epitome of bigotry. How can it be both? Cinelinx takes a look back at the highly controversial film, The Birth of a Nation on its 100th anniversary.
In 1915, D. W. Griffith was one of the hottest up-and-coming directors of the fledgling film industry, with a plan to create the first big budget film epic ever. He did just that, and for decades his magnum opus was considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, and many still believe that. However, in modern times, it has become more renowned as the most racist film in movie history. Despite the politically incorrect content,...
In 1915, D. W. Griffith was one of the hottest up-and-coming directors of the fledgling film industry, with a plan to create the first big budget film epic ever. He did just that, and for decades his magnum opus was considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, and many still believe that. However, in modern times, it has become more renowned as the most racist film in movie history. Despite the politically incorrect content,...
- 11/19/2015
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Rob Young)
- Cinelinx
Raymond Massey ca. 1940. Raymond Massey movies: From Lincoln to Boris Karloff Though hardly remembered today, the Toronto-born Raymond Massey was a top supporting player – and sometime lead – in both British and American movies from the early '30s all the way to the early '60s. During that period, Massey was featured in nearly 50 films. Turner Classic Movies generally selects the same old MGM / Rko / Warner Bros. stars for its annual “Summer Under the Stars” series. For that reason, it's great to see someone like Raymond Massey – who was with Warners in the '40s – be the focus of a whole day: Sat., Aug. 8, '15. (See TCM's Raymond Massey movie schedule further below.) Admittedly, despite his prestige – his stage credits included the title role in the short-lived 1931 Broadway production of Hamlet – the quality of Massey's performances varied wildly. Sometimes he could be quite effective; most of the time, however, he was an unabashed scenery chewer,...
- 8/8/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.
- 3/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
While cleaning out an old barn in New Hampshire recently, a man named Peter Massie discovered an old silent film projector and seven reels of nitrate films hidden in the shadows of a corner of the structure. Among these old reels was a 30-minute 1913 film titled When Lincoln Paid starring Francis Ford (older brother of director John Ford). It was one of six silent films, all presumed lost, in which Ford played Abraham Lincoln. It is stories like this that give hope to silent film fans. 75 per cent of movies from the silent era have been lost to decay or neglect, but when it comes to the over 200 movies that St. Louis native King Baggot acted in between 1909 and 1921, that number is closer to 100%. Here’s a look at Absinthe, a lost film from 100 years ago that I wish someone would find.
Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic (90-148 proof...
Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic (90-148 proof...
- 6/2/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Gregory Peck movies: Memorable miscasting in David O. Selznick’s Western Gregory Peck is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" star today, August 15, 2013. TCM is currently showing Raoul Walsh’s good-looking but not too exciting Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), with Peck in the title role and Virginia Mayo as his leading lady. (See “Gregory Peck in ‘Duel in the Sun’: TCM movie schedule.”) (Photo: Gregory Peck ca. 1950.) Next in line is Zoltan Korda’s crime melodrama The Macomber Affair (1947), based on a story by Ernest Hemingway about a troubled married couple and their safari guide. This is another good-looking film — black-and-white cinematography by veteran Karl Struss, whose credits ranged from the 1920 Gloria Swanson melo Something to Think About to Charles Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. Unfortunately, the psychology, the romance, and some of the acting found in The Macomber Affair is — at best — superficial. Joan Bennett and Gregory Peck look great,...
- 8/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In what is sure to be one of the year's most significant Blu-ray releases, Eureka Entertainment is bringing D.W. Griffith's controversial silent epic The Birth Of A Nation to Blu-ray and DVD, courtesy of its excellent Masters of Cinema series.Originally released in 1915, Griffith's 3-hour saga recounts the building tensions between the North and South of the United States that led to the American Civil War, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. Nearly 100 years after it was originally released, the film continues to divide audiences, championed for its breakthroughs in filmmaking and advances of cinematic technique, yet reviled for its overtly racist subject matter and skewed retelling of history.Released on 22 July, this beautiful new 1080p...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 6/27/2013
- Screen Anarchy
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a monthly newspaper run by Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian, and it’s the largest one-man newspaper in the world. The concept of The Globe is that there is an old historic headline, then all the articles in that issue are written as though it’s the year that the headline is from. It’s an unusual concept but the paper is now in its 25th successful year! Steve and I collaborated in May of 2011 on an all-Vincent Price issue of The Globe and I’ve been writing a regular monthly movie-related column since. Since there is no on-line version of The Globe, I post all of my articles here at We Are Movie Geeks. This month’s edition of The Globe takes place in 1865, the year President Lincoln was shot .Steve and I originally decided I would write an article...
- 4/15/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"People in the United Kingdom and outside the United States share my bemusement with the United States that America doesn't share with itself." – Bill Hicks
Greetings from the apocalypse, and welcome to an extra-long, extra-fun Presidents Day weekend that does not involve Bill Clinton. (Actually, it does, but I can't resist a good penis joke.) Enjoy the festivities, and if George W. Bush asks why he didn't get an invite to the BBQ just tell him it must have gotten lost in the mail. If he still won't shut up about it just tell him to go paint another picture of his bathroom.
Friday, February 15
O John McClane, where art thou? Having watched all four prior flicks in the "Die Hard" canon this week, I am saddened to hear that this might be a bad weekend for "A Good Day to Die Hard." The Rotten Tomatoes scoreboard has this puppy...
Greetings from the apocalypse, and welcome to an extra-long, extra-fun Presidents Day weekend that does not involve Bill Clinton. (Actually, it does, but I can't resist a good penis joke.) Enjoy the festivities, and if George W. Bush asks why he didn't get an invite to the BBQ just tell him it must have gotten lost in the mail. If he still won't shut up about it just tell him to go paint another picture of his bathroom.
Friday, February 15
O John McClane, where art thou? Having watched all four prior flicks in the "Die Hard" canon this week, I am saddened to hear that this might be a bad weekend for "A Good Day to Die Hard." The Rotten Tomatoes scoreboard has this puppy...
- 2/15/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
SAG Awards 2013: Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence [See previous post: "SAG Awards: Ben Affleck Argo to Win Best Picture Oscar?"] Daniel Day-Lewis was the Best Actor SAG Award winner for Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed historical drama Lincoln. In his acceptance speech, Day-Lewis acknowledged not only his fellow Best Actor nominees, but also non-nominee Joaquin Phoenix, whose performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master was bypassed by SAG Award voters. (Photo: Daniel Day-Lewis SAG Awards 2013.) Additionally, Day-Lewis thanked "my friends" Leonardo DiCaprio and Liam Neeson, and joked that perhaps because Abraham Lincoln was killed by an actor, John Wilkes Booth, actors have frequently tried to bring Lincoln back to life. Before Daniel Day-Lewis, the movies’ Abraham Lincolns include those of Joseph Henabery, Walter Huston, John Carradine, Henry Fonda, Raymond Massey (a Best Actor Oscar nominee for Abe Lincoln in Illinois), and, most recently, Benjamin Walker. Of note: Lincoln marked Daniel Day-Lewis’ third Best Actor SAG Award victory. His previous two wins were for...
- 1/28/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The actor's Honest Abe is brilliant, says John Patterson, but others have made Lincoln their own, too
Although Steven Spielberg's new movie Lincoln barely shows the event, Abraham Lincoln was murdered by an actor – in a theatre, no less – so it seems especially appropriate that, a century and a half later, his resurrection should be conducted by a member of the same profession. Daniel Day-Lewis's embodiment of the Great Emancipator, which transcends mere acting and becomes something more like live sculpting, will take every Best Actor statuette and bauble of the spring awards season, without a doubt, and is now the Lincoln to beat; an Elder Lincoln to bookend Henry Fonda's coltish and knock-kneed Young Mr Lincoln in John Ford's exquisite slice of Americana from 1939.
Lincoln has been portrayed on film and television over 270 times since the dawn of celluloid. That's predictable enough, given his overarching prominence in American history,...
Although Steven Spielberg's new movie Lincoln barely shows the event, Abraham Lincoln was murdered by an actor – in a theatre, no less – so it seems especially appropriate that, a century and a half later, his resurrection should be conducted by a member of the same profession. Daniel Day-Lewis's embodiment of the Great Emancipator, which transcends mere acting and becomes something more like live sculpting, will take every Best Actor statuette and bauble of the spring awards season, without a doubt, and is now the Lincoln to beat; an Elder Lincoln to bookend Henry Fonda's coltish and knock-kneed Young Mr Lincoln in John Ford's exquisite slice of Americana from 1939.
Lincoln has been portrayed on film and television over 270 times since the dawn of celluloid. That's predictable enough, given his overarching prominence in American history,...
- 1/21/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
It's nominations time again. Our experts give their verdicts on the list, the likely victors, the nominees who should win but won't – and the fantastic films that were ignored entirely
Best Picture
Nominated: Beasts of the Southern Wild; Zero Dark Thirty; Amour; Argo; Life of Pi; Les Misérables; Lincoln; Silver Linings Playbook; Django Unchained
Philip French, Observer film critic
Will win: Lincoln
Should win: Lincoln
This is one of the best ever Oscar lineups, films of every kind from a California-bred spaghetti western to a British musical of a French novel, from death quietly contemplated in a Parisian flat to a killing violently perpetrated in a Pakistani compound. Lincoln, the film I most admire and expect to win, is a work of dignity and seriousness that speaks to Obama's America and the world at large about the great issues of democracy and human rights, how they were fought for by...
Best Picture
Nominated: Beasts of the Southern Wild; Zero Dark Thirty; Amour; Argo; Life of Pi; Les Misérables; Lincoln; Silver Linings Playbook; Django Unchained
Philip French, Observer film critic
Will win: Lincoln
Should win: Lincoln
This is one of the best ever Oscar lineups, films of every kind from a California-bred spaghetti western to a British musical of a French novel, from death quietly contemplated in a Parisian flat to a killing violently perpetrated in a Pakistani compound. Lincoln, the film I most admire and expect to win, is a work of dignity and seriousness that speaks to Obama's America and the world at large about the great issues of democracy and human rights, how they were fought for by...
- 1/13/2013
- by Philip French, Jason Solomons, Mariella Frostrup, Liz Hoggard
- The Guardian - Film News
News.
The news that Francis Ford Coppola was moving back to the Paramount lot was exciting enough, but now it sounds like the director has some big plans in store:
"I have a secret investor that has infinite money. I learned what I learned from my three smaller films, and wanted to write a bigger film. I’ve been writing it. It’s so ambitious so I decided to go to L.A. and make a film out of a studio that has all the costume rentals, and where all the actors are. My story is set in New York. I have a first draft. I’m really ready for a casting phase. Movies are big in proportion to the period. It starts in the middle of the ‘20s, and there are sections in the ‘30s and the late ‘40s, and it goes until the late ‘60s."
The winners of...
The news that Francis Ford Coppola was moving back to the Paramount lot was exciting enough, but now it sounds like the director has some big plans in store:
"I have a secret investor that has infinite money. I learned what I learned from my three smaller films, and wanted to write a bigger film. I’ve been writing it. It’s so ambitious so I decided to go to L.A. and make a film out of a studio that has all the costume rentals, and where all the actors are. My story is set in New York. I have a first draft. I’m really ready for a casting phase. Movies are big in proportion to the period. It starts in the middle of the ‘20s, and there are sections in the ‘30s and the late ‘40s, and it goes until the late ‘60s."
The winners of...
- 12/5/2012
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
Since his infamous assassination in Ford Theater was re-imagined for D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, American movies have been just as fascinated by Abraham Lincoln’s image and legacy as American culture at large. Besides the general veneration directed towards his name, there are specific reasons why Lincoln has been a subject of considerable preoccupation in the moving image. Lincoln is an icon ubiquitous in American culture; his face resides on our currency and his larger-than-life status has literally been set in stone by the Lincoln Memorial. But at the same time, Lincoln occupied the Office of the Presidency years before the emergence of mass media as it is recognizable today. Having died several decades before the first images were captured on film, history knows Lincoln only through still portraits. On the one hand, this reality has emboldened the notion that Lincoln was a uniquely authentic President; this Kentucky rail-splitter of modest means and education...
- 11/22/2012
- by Landon Palmer
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Capitalizing on the latest biopic of the sixteenth United States President with this month’s release of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Kino releases a mastered HD restoration of D.W. Griffith’s 1930 film, Abraham Lincoln. Serving as the silent film master’s official foray into sound, this serves as the conservative counterpart to Spielberg’s bearded game changer, with dueling depictions that couldn’t be more disparate in quality or content. Griffith’s film is regarded by many to be a poorly made endeavor, regardless of his renowned manifestations of blatant racism that are certainly present here, and Huston’s dowdy performance hardly rates next to the magnificent Daniel Day Lewis. But even if Spielberg’s log cabin abolitionist is more a portrait of the man we hope and wish Lincoln was, experiencing Griffith’s version serves to highlight not only how far we’ve come in the advancement of filmmaking,...
- 11/20/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
I want to start out this article with a spoiler alert. If you want to be surprised at who wins the Best Actor Oscar at this year's Academy Awards do not read any further. For everyone else you can just mark down Daniel Day-Lewis on your Oscar pool ballot right now and know that you'll get at least one category correct. Day-Lewis is not just a lock to land his third Best Actor award. He's a promise. And deservedly so. Lincoln is the kind of tour de force that happens when the greatest actor of a generation takes on an iconic role like Abraham Lincoln and nails it. The bigger question for me is whether anyone else could have tackled the role and been as successful. It isn't that Lincoln has never been portrayed in film before. Walter Huston played Lincoln in D.W. Griffith's epic take on the 16th...
- 11/20/2012
- by Bill Cody
- Rope of Silicon
Before we get into this week's new releases, I have a deal to bring to your attention, which is Amazon is selling the Coen Brothers Collection on Blu-ray for $19.99, which includes Blood Simple, Fargo, Miller's Crossing and Raising Arizona. You can pick that up right here. In addition to that, Amazon is having a pre-Black Friday Deals Week, which you can learn more about here. Now let's get to this week's new releases. Lawrence of Arabia I did not receive a review copy of this title, though I did try, which tells me I have either been shunned by Sony or my email is going in the Junk Mail box on the opposite side of the digital spectrum. Oh well, it looks like I will be adding it to my Wish List as I really do love Lawrence of Arabia and owning it on Blu-ray would be excellent, though it's...
- 11/13/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Blu-ray Release Date: Nov. 13, 2012
Price: Blu-ray $34.95
Studio: Kino Lorber
Walter Huston stars in D.W. Griffith's 1930 film Abraham Lincoln.
Returning to the historic era of his greatest success, 1915’s The Birth of a Nation, D.W. Griffith paid homage to the country’s sixteenth President in the1930 biographical film drama Abraham Lincoln, the pioneering filmmaker’s first talking picture.
Starring Walter Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), the movie looks at the life of Lincoln, from his boyhood and his days as an Illinois lawyer to Washington and the turmoil of the Civil War. Focusing on Lincoln’s personal tragedies, as well as his great accomplishments, Griffith’s film depicts the American icon with a sensitivity and grace that critics argue is rivaled only by John Ford’s film Young Mr. Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln has been mastered in HD from the Museum of Modern Art’s 35mm restoration of Griffith’s film.
Price: Blu-ray $34.95
Studio: Kino Lorber
Walter Huston stars in D.W. Griffith's 1930 film Abraham Lincoln.
Returning to the historic era of his greatest success, 1915’s The Birth of a Nation, D.W. Griffith paid homage to the country’s sixteenth President in the1930 biographical film drama Abraham Lincoln, the pioneering filmmaker’s first talking picture.
Starring Walter Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), the movie looks at the life of Lincoln, from his boyhood and his days as an Illinois lawyer to Washington and the turmoil of the Civil War. Focusing on Lincoln’s personal tragedies, as well as his great accomplishments, Griffith’s film depicts the American icon with a sensitivity and grace that critics argue is rivaled only by John Ford’s film Young Mr. Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln has been mastered in HD from the Museum of Modern Art’s 35mm restoration of Griffith’s film.
- 11/12/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Honest Abe's surge in popularity continues with Kino Classics' release of D.W. Griffith's "Abraham Lincoln" on Blu-ray (November 13), starring Walter Huston (father of John, grandfather of Anjelica) as the 16th president. The Blu-ray has been mastered in HD from a 35mm restoration by the Museum of Modern Art. The disc includes a special introduction that was originally taped for the 1930 re-release of "Birth of a Nation," featuring a conversation between Griffith and Huston. (That the Lincoln-oriented intro would have appeared along with Griffith's "Birth of a Nation," which notoriously depicts Ku Klux Klansmen as heroes and African-Americans as crazed criminals, is brazenly strange and ironic.) "Abraham Lincoln" was Griffith's first talkie, and on its release in 1930, the sound era had only been in swing for a few years. The Kino edition of the film is the most complete available, with approximately three minutes...
- 11/7/2012
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
The first official photo of Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's new movie has made its way online (via EW), and the resemblance is as uncanny as we knew it would be. It looks like Day-Lewis has once again dove into a role, this time giving the world an Honest Abe that looks like the honest-to-God real thing.
Day-Lewis isn't the first actor to slip into the famous chin strap beard and toss on a jaunty stovetop hat. The IMDb character page for Abraham Lincoln lists 300 appearances by the sixteenth president in movies, starting all the way back in 1911. But who wore the beard the best?
We score the cinematic Lincolns from 1 to 10 after the jump!
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
Day-Lewis looks more weathered/leathery than we've ever seen before and more like the prez because of it.
Score: 9
Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"
Walker...
Day-Lewis isn't the first actor to slip into the famous chin strap beard and toss on a jaunty stovetop hat. The IMDb character page for Abraham Lincoln lists 300 appearances by the sixteenth president in movies, starting all the way back in 1911. But who wore the beard the best?
We score the cinematic Lincolns from 1 to 10 after the jump!
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
Day-Lewis looks more weathered/leathery than we've ever seen before and more like the prez because of it.
Score: 9
Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"
Walker...
- 8/7/2012
- by Kevin P. Sullivan
- MTV Movies Blog
This week sees the release of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter into the world, and considering the reaction audiences have had to the trailer at various trips to the movie theaters, I have a bad feeling it's going to bomb (even though I'm starting to come around to the ridiculous historical remix). And so, in leading up to the film's release on Friday, a new video, being dubbed a music trailer, has been unleashed. The Linkin Park song Powerless, off their new album Living Things hitting shelves June 26th, sets the stage along with plenty of new footage from Timur Bekmambetov's bloody adaptation. Watch below! Here's the Linkin Park music trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter via Yahoo UK: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu.
- 6/18/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
"There is darkness everywhere, Mr. Lincoln." While the previous trailers for the adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter mix ridiculous action with wha seems to be serious drama (that recent red band trailer actually was the most bad-ass), a new trailer actually gives the film more historical context and makes it feel a little more grounded in reality (if that's even possible). Using Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address as voiceover for most of the trailer with some impressive cinematography, some scary vampires and our villain played by Rufus Sewell. Could this maybe be a sleeper hit this summer? Watch! Here's the new trailer for Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter via MSN: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is...
- 5/29/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
"However history remembers me before I was president, I shall always think of myself as a hunter." Well, as someone who hasn't been as impressed by the trailers as some viewers, I have to say that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter now has my full attention. A new red band trailer has just cropped up online and it's great bloody fun with some ridiculous action. I think the tone is still a little too serious for such over-the-top action, so I'm not sure how that's going to work on the big screen, but I'm at least somewhat excited about this adaptation from Timur Bekmambetov now. Well done, 20th Century Fox. Watch it! Here's the red band trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from IGN: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F.
- 5/24/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Up until now, the trailers for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter haven't impressed me. We'll toss it up to a difference in taste and perceptions of the story itself, but so far I've yet to see anything from the film that doesn't make the concept look completely ridiculous whereas many people who have read the book adamantly say it's supposed to be taken seriously. Somehow there are people who think it looks silly, and love that, while others actually believe the dark, dramatic tone. Either way, a new feauturette with Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and Seth Grahame-Smith is the first time I've been intrigued. Watch! Here's the new featurette for Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from Apple: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter...
- 5/2/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Since it doesn't seem like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is going to stop taking itself a little too seriously (at least in my opinion) anytime soon, I guess we're going to have to deal with this marketing campaign until the film hits theaters on June 22nd this summer. While I get that the premise of the film is meant to be ridiculous, the tone, based on the couple trailers, feels like anything but that, and that seems like an issue to me. But for those still interested, we have a new international poster with the titular bad-ass president wielding an axe on a moving train but with enough composure to hold onto his signature hat. Here's the international poster for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter via Empire: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between...
- 4/19/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Fox has debuted the theatrical trailer via YouTube for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the action period piece starting Benjamin Walker as Abraham Linclon, a vampire hunter, in the days before he became the 16th President of the United States. The trailer has some brand new footage feature more of the train scene that we saw in the teaser trailer. In addition we get to see some of Abraham Lincoln’s axe swinging abilities. For those who thought that there wasn’t enough action in the teaser trailer, well the theatrical one gives you all of that without giving too much away.
Check out the theatrical trailer for Timur Bekmambetow’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter below:
The supporting cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell and Anthony Mackie. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is set to open in theaters in 3D on June 22, 2012.
Here’s the synopsis for...
Check out the theatrical trailer for Timur Bekmambetow’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter below:
The supporting cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell and Anthony Mackie. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is set to open in theaters in 3D on June 22, 2012.
Here’s the synopsis for...
- 3/17/2012
- by Mike Lee
- FusedFilm
"It shall only remember a fraction of the truth." After its debut at WonderCon, Fox has unveiled the second theatrical trailer via YouTube for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the action period piece starring Benjamin Walker as Honest Abe, a vampire killer. We've already seen a teaser trailer for this before and it looks a lot better than I was expecting, at least there are cool visuals and awesome fights, but it needs more and we finally get a glimpse at that here. The supporting cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell and Anthony Mackie. See more axe-swingin' below! Second official trailer for Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, via YouTube: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter...
- 3/17/2012
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Yesterday the first teaser was unleashed for the action horror adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and while it delivered what most expected, something doesn't seem right about it still. Anyway, now there's an international trailer for the film, and while it's mostly the same, there's a whole new monologue from the film that Dominic Cooper delivers to Benjamin Walker's Abraham Lincoln. In addition, we also get our first glimpse at Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln. Again, I get the appeal of the film, but it seems to have too much of a serious tone for it to hit the right way. We'll see. Here's the international trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter via Fox's YouTube page: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu.
- 2/14/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
After nothing but photos from the set surfaced online over the past few months, we finally have our first look at footage from the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's historical horror book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Honestly, while the action looks pretty decent, there's some slow motion shots of Honest Abe (Benjamin Walker) swinging an axe that just look a little ridiculous. Also, I'm not really sure how the last bump at the end of the trailer makes sense just yet, but then again neither does our 16th president hunting vampires, so maybe we can just let it slide. I'm still interested to see how this turns out. The teaser trailer for Timur Bekmambetov Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, via Time: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu.
- 2/13/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
We've already gotten a couple glimpses of the forthcoming historical horror flick Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter adapted from Seth Grahame-Smith's novel of the same name, but no trailer has surfaced yet. Honestly, with no footage showing up and the film still set for release this summer, I'm a little worried this film is just going to be a disaster. However, in the meantime, some buzz is slowly being built and a new poster using the iconic Lincoln Memorial from Washington D.C. as inspiration tries to do just that. It's pretty cheesy, but if the film is going for tongue-in-cheek horror and action, it could work. See it below! Here's the poster for Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (via The Daily Blam): President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. A cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln & F.
- 1/16/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
IndieWire has our first look at the upcoming adaptation of the book, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Its nothing special but you can see what Lincoln looks like as he is played by the young actor, Benjamin Walker, in unrecognizable fashion as himself but in recognizable fashion as the 16th Us President.
The coolest thing about this first look is the NY Times got a chance to talk to Timur Bekmembetov, who is directing the movie. He called the film a cross between D.W. Griffith’s Abraham Lincoln and F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu which is a very interesting sentiment. The other cool bit is that they want so much historical accuracy that they want it to seem like there is just a “slip of vampires into Lincoln’s story with minimal damage to the historical record.”
Apparently they’re so serious about the historical feel of the film that Library of Congress...
The coolest thing about this first look is the NY Times got a chance to talk to Timur Bekmembetov, who is directing the movie. He called the film a cross between D.W. Griffith’s Abraham Lincoln and F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu which is a very interesting sentiment. The other cool bit is that they want so much historical accuracy that they want it to seem like there is just a “slip of vampires into Lincoln’s story with minimal damage to the historical record.”
Apparently they’re so serious about the historical feel of the film that Library of Congress...
- 5/10/2011
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
Production is already underway on the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's alternate history novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and while we normally don't get our first look at a film until closer to the release date, The New York Times was allowed a very early visit on set, and a snapshot from the production has just been unveiled. It's nothing special, but it does show Benjamin Walker as our 16th president delivering some sort of speech in this strange story that reimagines our nation's iconic historical leader as a vampire hunter due to the blood thirsty creatures' involvement in the slave trade from the past. Here's the first image courtesy of The New York Times (via The Playlist): Bekmambetov apparently describes his adaptation of the book as a cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln and F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu, and while that sounds wholly interesting, it also sounds a bit over the top,...
- 5/9/2011
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Why does the dramatic power of Abraham Lincoln's assassination elude so many filmmakers? No less than D.W. Griffith tried it twice: Both "Birth of a Nation" and "Abraham Lincoln" portrayed the event with decent build-up but very little payoff. A long-gestating adaptation of James L. Swanson's "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer" holds potential for freeing the events from historical rigidity. But even 146 years after his death, Lincoln's ...
- 4/12/2011
- Indiewire
On April 3, "The Kennedys" -- the eight-hour mini-series that was dropped by the History Channel, but picked up by ReelzChannel (check local listings) -- is set to begin airing. This rehashing of Camelot features Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy and Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy. Anticipation, or curiosity, is building.
But Kinnear and Holmes are hardly the first actors to portray real-life politicians. From Walter Huston's Abraham Lincoln to Paul Giamatti's award-winning turn as John Adams to Anthony Hopkins's frightening Richard Nixon, the best of the best have staked their careers on living history. And we can't leave out satirists, for instance Tina Fey's totally winning take on Sarah Palin
Take a look back at some of the best in our gallery.
But Kinnear and Holmes are hardly the first actors to portray real-life politicians. From Walter Huston's Abraham Lincoln to Paul Giamatti's award-winning turn as John Adams to Anthony Hopkins's frightening Richard Nixon, the best of the best have staked their careers on living history. And we can't leave out satirists, for instance Tina Fey's totally winning take on Sarah Palin
Take a look back at some of the best in our gallery.
- 3/29/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg) The Dawn Patrol (Howard Hawks) Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch) Morocco (Josef von Sternberg) Not So Dumb (King Vidor) Liliom (Frank Borzage) Part Time Wife (Leo McCarey) Murder! (Alfred Hitchcock) The Royal Family of Broadway (George Cukor) Laughter (Harry D’Arrast) All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone) Juno and the Paycock (Alfred Hitchcock) Abraham Lincoln (D.W. Griffith) Rain or Shine (Frank Capra) The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh) Up the River (John Ford) Madam Satan (Cecil B. DeMille) Let’s Go Native (Leo McCarey) The Virtuous Sin (George Cukor) Men Without Women (John Ford) The Blue…...
- 11/21/2010
- Blogdanovich
What is apparently the only surviving print of the 1913 silent short When Lincoln Paid was accidentally found by a contractor inside an old New Hampshire barn about to be demolished in 2008. The nitrate reels were then given to Keene State College Film Archives, which determined that the film couldn’t be found in film archives. The tale of a mother of a dead Union solider who requests that Abraham Lincoln pardon a Confederate soldier she had initially turned in, When Lincoln Paid is one of eight early silents starring Francis Ford (photo) as Lincoln. According to an Associated Press report, there are no known surviving copies of the others. Among those are The Heart of Lincoln (1915), The [...]...
- 4/13/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
“We do not fear censorship, for we have no wish to offend with improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show the dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue – the same liberty that is conceded to the art of the written word – that art to which we owe the Bible and the works of Shakespeare.” — [Opening title card]
David Wark “D.W.” Griffith’s controversial 1915 masterpiece, “The Birth of a Nation,” occupies, on some level, similar stature in film scholarship as its subject matter does in American history. Like slavery’s vile stain on the memoirs of a constitutionally egalitarian nation, Griffith’s ode to Anglo supremacy and the plight of the White South represents the worst of artistic cinema through racist, exploitative, historical revisionism. Both film and subject are reviled, rightly so, for their unforgivable turpitudes. Of course no singular...
David Wark “D.W.” Griffith’s controversial 1915 masterpiece, “The Birth of a Nation,” occupies, on some level, similar stature in film scholarship as its subject matter does in American history. Like slavery’s vile stain on the memoirs of a constitutionally egalitarian nation, Griffith’s ode to Anglo supremacy and the plight of the White South represents the worst of artistic cinema through racist, exploitative, historical revisionism. Both film and subject are reviled, rightly so, for their unforgivable turpitudes. Of course no singular...
- 2/26/2010
- by Eric M. Armstrong
- The Moving Arts Journal
Edgar Allan Poe is no stranger to the movies. His literature has been adapted to film as early as 1908 and he was first portrayed onscreen in a D.W. Griffith short a year later. So it’s not always that exciting to hear about another Poe project in the works. However, I am very intrigued by this new movie coming from “V for Vendetta” director James McTeigue, which will fictionalize the writer’s mysterious final days.
/Film got the scoop on this project while interviewing McTeigue at San Diego Comic-Con. His latest, the upcoming “Ninja Assassin,” was screened at Sdcc and it opens this November. The Poe project is titled “The Raven,” though it’s not exactly based on the writer’s avian-centric poem. McTeigue claims it’s like a cross between Poe’s “The Raven” and the David Fincher film “Se7en.” Scripted by Hannah Shakespeare (Kevin Bacon’s “Loverboy”) and Ben Livingston,...
/Film got the scoop on this project while interviewing McTeigue at San Diego Comic-Con. His latest, the upcoming “Ninja Assassin,” was screened at Sdcc and it opens this November. The Poe project is titled “The Raven,” though it’s not exactly based on the writer’s avian-centric poem. McTeigue claims it’s like a cross between Poe’s “The Raven” and the David Fincher film “Se7en.” Scripted by Hannah Shakespeare (Kevin Bacon’s “Loverboy”) and Ben Livingston,...
- 8/5/2009
- by Christopher Campbell
- MTV Movies Blog
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